I have thought about this a long time and haven't read it in a book anywhere but I have concluded this: Money is a total mental construction.

When you say we should have spend the "money" we spent on the war on social programs; or, if you say the government stole the pension fund and now there is no "money" to fund our children's retirement-I think that is all an illusion- because money is a mental construct. It is only a marker for human activity.

If you think about it, you can't put money away, because it has no substance. You can put wheat away, store up oil in a well, stock shelves with canned food etc. - but storing "money" has no meaning. That is because money is really at it's heart- an adjective. When you "save" your money, it isn't stored at all. It is invested. You may not invest it, but someone is taking the "marker" representing your enterprise, energy, activity etc. and has started (really only on faith) other activities, energy and enterprises hoping that someone will give them a marker.

So when we say the coffers are empty- that there is no money- it really means that there is no human activity. But you protest! Well if all money is, is human activity, then what causes human activity to slow down? Why do we have recessions? But a recession, like money, is a mindset; and the "economy" itself is a mental construction.

We could drive an entire national economy out of the gambling industry if we wanted to. So all these gambling casinos pay the dealers and food service folks, the money counters etc. and they go out and buy houses and food and cars etcetera . Most of us think gambling is a vice and I am one of those, but the point is- all you need to drive an economy is human industry of any kind and the wheels on the bus go round and round.

If I were writing the next president's victory speech, I would say: We didn't take food out of the mouths of babies when we launched the Apollo program in the 60's and put a man on the moon. We put people to work and there was nothing stopping us then and nothing stopping us now from putting people to work feeding the hungry if that is our focus. It is all just human activity.

We can build an economy on anything we want to. So why don't we build it "green". Lets build our economy on clean air and energy independence. Lets build it on "health". No, not health care! Health. Lets fund health. Let re-establish the National fitness standards for our children. Lets educate people on how to stay well. Lets open up more community centers instead of closing them. Let ask our children to give a year of service to their nation while we're at it. Let build an economy on rebuilding the state and national infrastructure. We can do this because money is an adjective! All it is, is people in motion doing things. That is why inspiring leadership is important. That is why it is more important to know what the "vision" is of our presidential candidates than what their "programs" and plans are. A president needs a vision not an agenda.

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Fear of "money" or lack of it, is a self-fulfilling prophecy unless we understand that money is just people doing things. If we see that, "money" stops being a thing and begans to be an activity.

When I drive along the Columbia River highway between Oregon and Washington, I see things built in the late 30's and early 40's that blow my mind. Four of the biggest damns in the USA are built there. The highway is beautiful. The original rock walls and scenic lookouts are still there. Your home state may have the same kinds of projects built when people were put to work in by the 100's of thousands in the late 30's. The Tennessee Valley Authority sent power to 10's of thousands farms.

Money is really all about "doing" something. "Money" is an adjective. You can't save it. If you think you can, you are deceiving yourself. Inflation, recession, stagflation, a falling housing market, the perils are endless. The only safe way to save is to put your own money to work- yes that means you will have to get off your butt. The only thing "money" ever did was to cause someone to "do" something. It might be to build something, move something, tear down something, waste something, horde something, share something, lead someone, hurt someone, heal someone, corrupt someone, teach someone....it goes on forever but "money" is only people in action.


"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein